


See You at the Sandbar

by cakethulhu



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, Lance & Hunk are cousins, M/M, Mermaid Prince!Hunk, Oblivious Keith (Voltron), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining Lance (Voltron), Uncle Coran, broganes, mermaid au, mermaid!lance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-03-11 09:57:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13521834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cakethulhu/pseuds/cakethulhu
Summary: Coran wants a fresh start for himself and his newly-adopted nephews after the loss of their parents. Luckily he was able to transfer to another of his company’s locations. It was a little beach town with a nice stretch of shoreline up for sale, so Coran snatched it up.





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How do summary???  
> I should warn you now that, I don't actually have 100% of an end-goal for this fic, so I'm writing it a little directionlessly.

  
This part of the beach was rarely ever used by any of the locals. The main cause for its unpopularity was the pollution left behind by negligent tourists every summer. A fact that the real estate agent had conveniently forgotten to mention in their sales pitch to the new owners of the property.

The two young brothers and their uncle looked upon the mess they had purchased in a mix of horror and disgust at the utter lack of maintenance and disrespect for the environment. It was a decent stretch of land, and beautiful too, if not for the excessive amount of litter.

"Well, my boys, looks like we've got our work cut out for us here. Maybe you'll even earn some cleaning stripes while we're at it, eh?" And with that their uncle set them to work, handing each of them a garbage bag and a pair of gloves. The mustached man kneeled on the sand to match his nephews' eye level as best he could, and with his heavy accent, he instructed them, "Alright, you two start on the right, I'll go left. Don't wander too far, stick together, and I want you to whistle for me if you find any broken glass, do not touch it! Right?"

The older of the two responded with a loud, "Yes," while the younger simply nodded.

After getting their affirmative replies, he stood up saying, "Good. Then we'll meet back up right here in about an hour and head off for dinner. Make sure to be careful." And the pair ran off, staying within shouting distance, on a mission to clean up their beach and already betting each other's dessert on who could pick up the most trash in the time limit.

This became more or less the weekend routine for Keith, his older brother, Shiro, and their Uncle Coran. The boys waited until Coran came home from work, so they could all head to the beach to clean up for an hour or two, before returning to eat.

 

One day, another boy visited their beach. However, this boy was quite different from the two meandering across the sand filling their garbage bags. He had smooth, tan skin that was dotted with the iridescence of still-developing scales and a short, shiny tail to match. Having got caught in a piece of plastic that was slowly being moved toward the shore by the water's push and pull, the young guppy fumbled to free himself while he was still far out enough that his presence went unnoticed by either of the brothers.

He managed to untangle the plastic from his tail, and he watched it float away to land on the beach where it was almost immediately picked up by the smaller of the two boys with more enthusiasm than expected. The now-liberated boy in the water found this rather curious. He retreated a bit to find another piece of plastic, of which there was quite an abundance, and then he swam close enough to the shore to remain hidden and still be able to direct the trash (he hadn't been formally trained yet, but he could manage that much) towards the child who looked oddly triumphant whenever he picked up a decent-sized piece.

Soon, it seemed Lance was doing half of Keith's work for him. Though he thought the boy on the beach was strange for liking the litter so much, he was happy enough to get it out of his ocean, and if he got to give it to someone who actually wanted it, well that was just a bonus.

 

More and more often, Keith noticed, several small piles of garbage would be dotting the shoreline, just out of reach from being washed away. He looked around curiously, but couldn't find a logical reason for the trash to have seemingly gathered itself. While he couldn't explain it, it did make picking up more garbage than Shiro and winning their bets easier.

 

After a few weeks, Lance wondered what else the boy on the beach, whose name he overheard as Keith, might like. He began putting more than just garbage in the piles he left for him. Though he constructed mounds of brightly colored seaweeds, and common rocks near the small heaps of litter, the boy never paid them as much mind or took any of them with him. So, Lance challenged himself to find something the other boy would like more than the everyday wastes.

Lance began collecting anything and everything he could find. He searched hard for human things, amassing quite a hoard. And when he felt like he had a sufficient number of certain things, he took them to the little beach, and left them for his new friend.

 

When the beach had been cleared up significantly, Keith found less piles of garbage waiting for him, but about a week's worth of random items sorted and lined up in the sand. He wasn't entirely sure what to do with all the things, and he was becoming increasingly concerned with who was leaving them, and why. So he asked Shiro.

While Shiro had no answer for Keith's questions, he did help him go through everything. They used Shiro's bag for anything they couldn't see use for, and Keith's for things that might have any sort of value. For instance, the assortment of tableware mostly went in Shiro's sack, but Keith had picked out a few especially decorative tea spoons and tiny forks that he thought were nice enough to keep. 

Meanwhile, Lance watched from afar, paying close attention to the things that wound up in Keith's bag. He was surprised to see the two boys look through everything so meticulously, and he wondered about why the smaller boy only took a few of the things when they were essentially all the same. Of course, it hadn't gone unnoticed that his bag only contained the more unique-looking items of the bunches.

Gradually, the piles grew smaller and fewer in number as Lance had noticed the boy was no longer excited at finding the gifts Lance left. Keith became less careful of going through the things, and hardly any wound up in his bag. Then one day, Lance overheard him.

“How are we ever going to get the beach ready to open when all this junk just keeps appearing?” The irritation in the young boy’s voice rang sharp.

Upset that this boy didn't like his presents, Lance vowed never to leave anything for him again. If his bipedal companion couldn't appreciate the things given to him, then he wouldn't get anything more from Lance.

 

The first weekend that Coran and his boys showed up to an empty beach, finally free of trash and also clear of piles of random stuff, they were all quite relieved. After all their work, they finally took a minute to enjoy their little private shoreline. Keith still didn't know who had been leaving the things, or why they suddenly stopped, but he was glad to be done cleaning up the mess.

The three stopped coming for awhile as Coran placed orders and prepared for when they would open the beach in the summer. He had a small storage shack and a little convenience stand built. He convinced nearby businesses to let beach-goers use their restrooms.

 

Once Lance realized they weren’t coming back, he, too, stopped visiting the little beach. And soon enough, he was too busy to check in on it even if he wanted too. His cousin and best friend, Hunk, was starting training and they had agreed to do it together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Constructive criticism and comments are totally welcome, I love to hear what you guys think :)


	2. Sandy Summers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance doesn't mean to, but he catches Keith's attention.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary? I don't know her, lol  
> Stuff happened and this was put on hold for entirely too long, but hey, I'm back, lol..  
> I'm not dead, and hopefully I'll be updating more frequently.

It had been several months since the last time Lance had been to the little beach.

During that time he had been training earnestly with Hunk who, as the Crown Prince of their kingdom, would be expected to learn earlier than the average guppy. Together they'd been studying how to use their energy and connections to their surroundings for the big three: offense, defense, and survival.

They wouldn't get to work with weapons until they were older, so for the time being they were taught how the ocean itself could be a weapon. Every merperson had the innate ability to manipulate the motion of the ocean, though the royal family had a stronger bond with the big blue and it came a little easier. On the other hand, it took concentration and practice to get the hang of controlling their scales’ camouflage capabilities, but Lance had found he was a little bit of a natural at it.

The pair were also taught about the energy exchange involved in crystal gardening. They were made to memorize the ingredients and instructions for producing each and every different kind. Along with the general variety, each mermaid was able to cultivate a crystal that was entirely unique to them. These special crystals took the longest to grow, and once fully formed would unleash and enhance an individual’s true talent. Both Lance and Hunk were excited to see how their gardens would grow.

Meanwhile, they also went to school with the other guppies of their generation; learning their general math, reading, writing, science, and history. In the little spare time they had, Hunk liked to build and craft things with his grandmother, mostly he made little trinkets and toys for his friends. Not being the heir to the throne, Lance had quite a bit more freedom, with which he enjoyed exploring with the local marine life. You could almost always find him racing around with some kind of animal companion.

Keeping up with everything had almost been enough to make Lance forget about the little stretch of sand and the small family that had cleaned it up. _Almost_.

 

After cleaning up the beach, Keith had been a little sick of the place for awhile.

Shiro had spent the months after they finished making friends and hanging out with them on his, now free, weekends. Much to Keith’s annoyance, he had tried to encourage Keith to do the same constantly.

Instead, Keith spent much of his free time reading more than the average eight year-old. Sometimes he rode his bicycle around town; he didn't ever have a destination in mind, he just liked the wind against his face and to see how fast he could go. Truthfully, he was still angry at having to move in the first place, and angry at his parents for dying, even if he knew it wasn't their fault. He hated being the new kid, and he both unintentionally, and intentionally sometimes, pushed away anyone that tried to befriend him with a scowl and harsh words. Coran had been called at work several times.

And now that it was summer break, Keith found himself bored out of his mind. Books and video games could only keep his attention for so long. When the beach first opened to the public, Coran and Shiro had persuaded Keith to go with, but Keith wasn't a huge fan of the water. Whenever they could get him to go along, he tended to sit high on the shore digging in the sand or looking for interesting shells.

 

One day when lessons had gotten out early, Lance and his companions for the day, a crab scuttling across his back and a pair of threadfins swimming next to him, were headed in the direction of the little beach. Seeing the multitude of bodies splashing around, Lance swam closer to the seafloor, changing the color of his scales to match the sand, but still crept closer.

After crossing to the side where there were less people, and after making sure the scales on his face all matched his tan skin tone, he poked his head above the water. He looked on at the humans playing on the shore and in the sea, knowing he couldn't join them, but wanting to all the same.

He saw the older of the brothers from before hitting a ball back and forth over a net with a couple others. When Lance noticed Keith wasn't with his brother, his eyes scoured the sand for the familiar dark mop of hair. He found it curling around a grumpy face while Keith hovered near a tidal pool wiggling his fingers around in it every so often. Lance wondered what he was doing, and why he looked so upset by it, and why he wouldn't stop doing it if he wasn't happy doing it. He wished he could get closer to see, but he was already wary of the distance he kept now.

Lance’s threadfins had already left to rejoin their school when they had started approaching the area where the humans were, but his crab buddy was still clinging to him. He suddenly remembered the way Keith’s face had lit up that first time Lance gifted him with garbage, and Lance had an idea. However, he didn't have any trash with him. He ducked back underwater and thought hard for a second, before taking one of the larger, prettier seashells off of the belt tied around his tail. Breaching the surface once again, he made sure Keith was still there, he was, and he took his crustacean friend into his hand.

“Mr. Crab, would you please take this shell,” he held it up for the crab to see, “over to my other friend there by that tidal pool?” He asked as he turned the crab to face the beach, pointing out Keith.

The crab did and said nothing.

“I know I said I wouldn't ever leave him anything again. But technically I'm not _leaving_ anything, I'm _giving_ it to him. Or even more technically, _you're_ giving it to him.” Lance argued, as if the crab had known or asked about Lance’s promise to himself.

Mr. Crab did not respond.

“He just looks so unhappy, and he's over there by himself… It's not like I can go over there.” He said, trying to convince it.

And when the crab again, unsurprisingly, did not speak, Lance held out the shell for it to grab, which it did. Lance smiled and gave it a gentle pet, thanking it, and sent it on small, but fast current over to where Keith still sat.

 

Keith had been invited to play beach volleyball with Shiro and his friends, but as he had whenever Shiro asked, he declined. It wasn't that Keith didn't like Allura and Matt; they were just too happy for Keith’s sour temperament. So instead, he laid by himself in the sand a while, practically daring the sun to burn him.

After a just bit of that, he'd wandered over to the edge of a tidal pool, where he was currently watching a sea anemone retreat into itself every time Keith stuck his hand in the shallow water. As he got bored of the anemone, he began poking gently at the periwinkles hanging out in the bottom of the tidal pool, picking a couple up. He watched them crawl extremely slowly around his palms.

Busy thinking about ways to spend the summer without being bothered by other people, Keith's attention returned to the beach where he sat when felt a light splash on his ankle. Confused, he looked at the retreating ocean, the tide was still out, so the water shouldn’t have been able to reach him.

He looked further out and caught the medium-sized splash of someone ducking underwater. Weird. He squinted at the spot, dropping the snails in the process, but whoever it was didn't come back up. Suddenly worried, Keith sprang up and dashed to the water. Before he got in too deep, the water coming up to his waist, he felt an arm tugging him back. Keith struggled against it, but Shiro forced him to turn around, and they met each others' concerned gaze.

"Keith!" Shiro huffed, a little out of breath, "What's up, buddy?"

Still twisting away Keith could barely get the words out, "There was—and they—but they still haven't come up for air!"

"Show me," was all Shiro said.

With Shiro sticking close they swam out to where Keith thought he saw the splash. While Keith bobbed above the water because he wasn't a great swimmer, Shiro dove under to search for anyone who might be there. Keith watched carefully, but the only one to reemerge was Shiro, alone.

"Are you sure you saw someone, Keith?" Shiro rasped, wiping the water from his face.

"What? Yes, I saw someone, _Shiro_ , I saw someone. They've gotta be around here somewhere." Keith tried to convince Shiro, still searching the surrounding water.

Shiro looked him over, "Ok. I didn't see anything here, but I'm going to look further out just in case, alright? I want you to head back to the beach, maybe they washed up somewhere?"

Keith tried to stay in place, fighting the waves, and staring down Shiro stubbornly, before nodding reluctantly and heading back to exactly where he was when he saw the person. After telling Allura and Matt what was happening, they had taken to questioning parents and babysitters to see if anyone was missing, and Keith sat diligently next to the tidal pool while scouring the beach for anyone who looked like they had maybe almost just drowned. Keith's eyes refocused on the water every time Shiro came up for air, and after Allura reported that no one noticed anyone missing, she swam out to him.

Shiro hadn't caught site of anyone in danger, and Keith was beginning to doubt himself. The stress tired Keith out, and he lay further up the shore wondering about it all with Shiro, who had insisted on staying with him. He was contemplating asking Shiro if Allura's family could give them a ride home today when he felt something poke his leg. He jumped back, and then growled in annoyance that he got startled by a crab.

As he was about to sweep the crab away, it tapped a seashell on his leg again.

"Hey, Shiro?"

"Mm," was the reply from his half-awake brother.

"Is this crab looking at me?" Keith asked, bobbing his head to see the crab's eyes track the movement.

Shiro turned and removed his elbow from over his eyes, "What?"

The crab waved the seashell around toward Keith.

"It's trying to give me a shell," Keith deadpanned.

Shiro sat up and looked over, one eyebrow raised, "Way to go, Little Mermaid, you finally made a friend," he said with a laugh. He reached for the shell, but the crab snatched it away from Shiro's grasp. It ran away in a circle before coming to stand closer to Keith again.

Keith hesitantly took the shell from the crab, who tapped it's now-empty claw on the sand before scurrying toward the ocean. "Weird."

He studied the seashell, it was half of a beautifully polished angelwing shell with a slight shimmering blue tint and a perfectly circular hole at the hinge.

"Can I see?" Shiro asked, his hand outstretched. When Keith placed it in his palm, he traced the hole with his finger. "Looks like it's supposed to be on a necklace or something. It's pretty, and someone did a good job cleaning it up," he said handing it back to Keith.

“Yeah,” Keith said lamely, still confused by the day. “You think Allura can give us a ride home today? I don't feel like riding my bike.”

“Let’s go see, huh?” Shiro said while getting up, dusting himself off and offering a hand to Keith.

 

_Too close. TOO CLOSE._ Lance hadn't thought the wave he created would draw much attention, but when Keith looked up, Lance just hoped he dove quick enough. And when he saw Keith's legs trying to run against the tide, Lance swam down and away as fast as he could while still looking back. He had hoped to watch Keith's reaction to the shell, but when he saw Shiro following Keith into the water, he knew he wouldn't get to stick around.

Carefully making sure he was fully camouflaged, Lance made his way back home. He sought out Hunk, who was helping his mother make snacks. Hunk gave him a look that said _I can tell something happened, so if you don't want my mom asking questions, you need to calm down._ To which Lance made a nearly imperceptible effort at toning it down.

After they ate, Lance and Hunk went off on their own, and Hunk immediately bombarded Lance with questions. "What happened? You went somewhere you weren't supposed to, huh? You're ok, right? You look alright. You need a better poker face though."

"What's a poker face?" Lance's face screwed up in curiosity.

"What? Oh, Grandpa was trying to teach me a game, I didn't really get it, but he said 'You have to have a good poker face to win.' So it's like a face that doesn't show if you think you're gonna win or lose, so the other players don't know what to expect. Or something," Hunk tried to explain.

"So a face like this?" Lance asked using his camo skills to turn his face bright purple while he stuck his tongue out on one side and crossed his eyes.

Hunk laughed so hard he had to make a conscious effort to keep swimming next to Lance. When he could breathe again, he joked, "Perfect! Just keep your face like that and no one will suspect a thing." But then Hunk, sobered quickly, "Hey! You still didn't tell me what happened! No more distracting me."

Lance's cheeks turned pink without any help from his camo skills and he said, "It was nothing. I just maybe almost got seen by a human," his voice quieted. And then he burst out, "But I didn't! I swam away real fast! And nothing happened; I didn't even get to see if he liked it." Lance finished with a pout.

Hunk's mouth was agape, "You─Humans?! Wait! Who─See if who liked what?"

Lance gave Hunk a look that said _You know who_ , but still replied, "It was Keith, he looked upset and I wanted to give him one of my pretty shells." He held the empty space on his belt in his hand to show Hunk.

"Oh, Lance, wasn't that one of your favorites?" Hunk's face softened before his eyes nearly bugged out of his head, "Uh, Lance? How did you give it to him without being _seen_?"

Lance put one hand on his hip, "I sent it through someone else. I had Mr. Crab take it to him... But I pushed the wave a little too hard, and had dive really really fast cause Keith noticed the water. But like I said, I didn't get caught and everything's cool as a sea cucumber." He finished with more confidence than he had felt in the moment when it happened.

Not sure what to say, torn between concern and thankfulness, Hunk rushed to hug Lance. "Let's go find something to fill the space on your belt, yeah? Do you want another shell or a pearl or what?"

"Actually, I have the other half of the angelwing that was there! It's got a little chip in it, but if we polish it up nice again, it'll still be pretty." Lance perked up at the change of subject.

 

Lance waited a couple days to go back to the beach, hoping Keith would forget all about the small splash Lance made. As he approached in much the same fashion as before, this time he made a bee-line for some boulders that rose out of the ocean a good distance out and to the side of the main stretch of sand. Coming up behind them, he changed his coloration to match the rocks and barely poked his head above the water to peek around them.

His eyes almost immediately landed on Keith. Sitting under an umbrella, Keith had a large book in front of him. Much to Lance's absolute delight, he could see the beautiful angelwing shell in one of Keith's palms. His excitement forced a short trill out of his throat, and he immediately froze, praying no one heard it. Luck was not and was on his side; Keith heard it, his head lifted and Lance could see him searching for the source. He watched the boy's gaze slide right over him, accidental eye contact that Keith didn't seem to notice.

Lance didn't spare himself a breath until Keith’s attention shifted back to his book. He stays longer that day, when the distance of the rock bored him, he dared to color-match the water itself and stray a little closer. Less than a kelp field away, Lance could see the book had pictures of fish and crustaceans in it, and curiosity piqued, he moved a fraction too quickly.

For the second time that day, Keith’s eyes met his. He held eye contact this time, though he squinted, looking confused. Keith rubbed his eyes with his fists, and in that moment, Lance dove under the surface. This time he moved the water to cover his tracks, instantly stilling what his movement would have stirred. He sneaked back to the rock that was his original hiding space, and when he peeked again, Keith was crouching closer to the water, looking deeper into the waves than before.

Lance suddenly got a wicked idea. Before Keith had a chance to back away from the water once again, Lance sent just a little flick of a wave. A splash just big enough to reach Keith’s face. Keith yelped, and wiped at his face while Lance pressed against the back of the rock trying to keep his laughing contained by his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, constructive criticism and comments are encouraged as fuck. Hope you enjoyed :)


End file.
